Bacardi Scholar to speak at UF

A former Costa Rican presidential candidate will deliver the 2008 Bacardi Lecture at the University of Florida on Wednesday.

Professor Ottón Solís, Bacardi Family Eminent Scholar at the UF Center for Latin American Studies will lecture on "Winners and Losers in Free Trade Agreements: The View from the South," at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Presidents Room of Emerson Alumni Hall.

Solís has twice run for president in Costa Rica and was founding president of Costa Rica's Citizens Action Party. Solís lost the 2006 elections by less than one percent. In 2007 he led the opposition to his nation's signing of the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Solís, an economist, has served as a congressman in his nation and as the Minister of Planning and Economic Policy. A twice published book author, Solís is currently researching the impact of free trade agreements on development and democracy.

According to UF, the Bacardi Family Eminent Scholar Chair in Latin American Studies was established in 1991 through the leadership of Bacardi Imports Inc. and the collaboration of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the state of Florida. Officials said the endowment allows the Center for Latin American Studies to invite distinguished scholars and public figures to teach, lecture, mentor students and carry out research at the university.

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